Loyalty and Friendship
by Cardinal001
Summary: One event changes the way Lily sees James in ways neither of them could have guessed.
1. Suspicions Aroused

**Chapter 1 – Suspicions Aroused**

Lily Evans was not happy.

She had every reason to be happy. After all she was one of the smartest and most popular girls at Hogwarts. Every year she had come top of her class in Charms and Transfiguration. She had many friends. She had been a prefect for the last two years and now she was Head Girl with her own dormitory and bathroom. She had outstanding grades predicted for her NEWTS and a bright future beckoned. So really she should have been happy.

Except she wasn't.

The reason was one James Potter who, almost since the moment they met, had tried to ingratiate himself with her. Lily had made it clear that she was not interested in him and did not want to be friends with him. Not least because he and his little gang – the Marauders as they called themselves – seemed to have taken the job of the most annoying pranksters at the school. And the most frequent victim of their pranks and schemes was Severus Snape, who had been Lily's friend since childhood. It had been he who first told her that she was a witch, much to the dismay of her sister Petunia. Then an incident two years ago had ended any friendship between them.

_Mudblood_.

The memory still hurt her. Severus had been her best friend! He would have been the last person she would have expected to call her that. Yet another thing to blame Potter for. If he hadn't insisted on tormenting Severus then Severus would never had been so angry as to insult her like that. She had never mentioned the incident in her letters to her sister. She couldn't bear to give her the satisfaction.

Petunia...

Ever since Lily had started Hogwarts all those years ago she had written to her sister in the hope that Tuney's outburst on the platform at King's Cross hadn't been sincere. She had written letters about the teachers, the subjects, her friends, the creatures, everything about her life here.

Her sister had never written back.

Over the years Lily's letters had grown fewer and fewer. During the last couple of years they had mainly concerned her frustration over Potter's advances. Tuney never wrote back but Lily continued to send the letters as a way to vent her feelings. She shook her head. Once again it came back to Potter. She would have been more than happy to stay out of his way all the time. This was not possible however as James Potter had been made Head Boy and, as a result, shared her dormitory.

Responsibility hadn't changed him at all. Every night on their patrols around the school Potter kept on trying to work his rather ineffective charm on her. He would point out dark corners where no one would be able to see them and mentioned secret passages, although how he knew about them Lily had no idea. During the day he spent all his time with his cronies – Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin – planning some new trick no doubt to be used on Severus. They were all as bad as each other, although Remus did treat Lily with some measure of respect.

Lily could see no light at the end of the tunnel. From now until the end of the year she would have to put up with Potter. After that she would never have to see him again. She sighed. It was only three weeks into the first term. It would be a long year.

...

That evening Lily put her books and scrolls away to prepare for another night of patrolling with Potter and his interminable advances. She didn't look up when the door to his room opened and he emerged.

"Look Evans," he began. "I can't come on patrol tonight. There's something important I have to do."

Lily looked up. He was being perfectly serious. "Something more important? These are our responsibilities you're talking about!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing from him. "You're Head Boy for Merlin's sake! You can't just put it on and take it off whenever you want!"

"I know! I know." Potter said. "I just... I have something I have to do. It's just tonight."

Lily opened her mouth to protest even more then shut it again. Hadn't she just been complaining to herself that patrol would be taken up with Potter trying to chat her up? It would make a change to do it quietly for once. She nodded. "Okay then. I'll do it by myself. But if you keep this up I'm going straight to Dumbledore!"

Potter nodded and left through the door.

...

Patrol that night did indeed go smoothly, even though Lily had to do it herself. Without Potter chattering away beside her she found that she was paying more attention to the corridors and statues and doorways. She found and chased off a couple of students who were out of their beds but, apart from that, nothing too exciting happened.

A couple of hours later Lily was back in her dormitory. There was still no sign of Potter. Wherever he was it looked like he would be out all night. Lily had said she wouldn't tell the Headmaster but, if it interfered with his Head Boy duties she would. Lily took the opportunity to finish off her Potions essay on the mixture needed to cure eight different types of poison without the use of a bezoar and went off to bed.

...

The next morning she went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. She sat at the Gryffindor table with her friends and they soon lost themselves talking about Potions and Golpalott's Third Law, which only Lily had been able to fully understand. She noticed that Potter and the rest of his gang were not present but didn't give it much thought, instead turning her full attention to the food in front of her.

After about half an hour the doors opened and in walked Potter with his friends. Lily briefly looked up as they sat down at the far end of the table. Was it her imagination or did Potter's face look bruised? She thought she saw the telltale signs of dittany over some scratches which were starting to heal. Shaking her head she returned to her breakfast.

After breakfast she caught up with Potter outside the Hall.

"What have you been doing?" she hissed loudly.

"Concern Evans?" Potter grinned at her, making her even more angry. "Can it be I'm finally bringing you round?"

"Dream on Potter!" Lily continued. "What was it? Picking a fight with the villagers? When Dumbledore hears about this..."

"Don't tell him." Potter whispered. "Look Evans, I know you don't like me but you have to trust me. I know what I'm doing and it is important. Just drop it ok?" With that he walked away, leaving Lily standing there.

Throughout the day the encounter didn't crop up in Lily's mind as all her attention was taken up with her lessons and studies. Professor Slughorn loved her essay and gave her top marks for it. He said that only one other student had managed to grasp Golpalott's Third Law so completely and, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Severus going red. She ignored him and instead concentrated on the current day's project.

Charms and Transfiguration likewise went past with Professors Flitwick and McGonagall again praising her for her progress in some of the most difficult spells they had taught. Defence Against the Dark Arts was her one weak subject, partly due to the fact that the teacher spent most of his time stammering and jumping at the slightest noise.

At the end of the day Lily returned to the Head's dormitory and flopped down onto the sofa. She turned her head and saw Potter sitting on a chair, looking down at the floor. He had obviously been waiting for her.

"What do you want?" she asked him.

Potter looked up at her. "I've got to go out again tonight. I'm sorry Evans."

Lily was not pleased. "Again? Who is it going to be this time? The centaurs? Hippogriffs?"

Potter shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."

"Look Potter... James..." Potter was surprised when she used his first name. She carried on speaking. "I can't cover for you. Sooner or later someone's going to find out that you're not doing your duties. When they do I won't lie for you or defend you."

"I'm not asking you to." Potter replied. "I'm just asking you to trust me. Just a couple more days and I'll be done. Please?"

Lily thought for a moment. Why should she? She didn't owe him anything, in fact she hated him. But there was something in his voice that spoke of sincerity, which she would never have thought he was capable of. Eventually she nodded. "All right. Two more days. After that no more."

Potter thanked her and left the room. Thinking back over their conversation, she realised that he had never once said anything to try to chat her up. _It must be serious_. She thought to herself.

...

After she completed her patrol Lily returned to the room she shared with Potter and did her homework for that day. She did not go to bed afterwards, instead deciding to wait up for Potter, mainly out of curiosity as to what state he would be in.

Hours passed and Lily felt herself falling asleep. Through sheer will she stayed awake and eventually she heard the handle of the door turning. Not wanting Potter to see her she cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself, shivering as the cold feeling ran down her spine.

The door opened and Lily fought back a gasp. Potter staggered in, his face not just bruised but scratched and bleeding. In one hand he held what looked like a bundle of cloth and in the other hand a blank parchment. He put these down onto the table and walked over to their sink. From the cupboard he pulled out a bottle of dittany and splashed it onto his face. The cuts instantly started to heal and Lily realised that this was what must have happened the previous night. Despite her feelings of animosity towards Potter she was starting to grow concerned. What was it that was doing this to him? Where was he going? Wherever it was he must be going with the others. Were they hunting some beast in the Forest? Her mind was whirling with questions.

Potter put the bottle back and crossed to the door to his bedroom. Putting his hand to the doorknob and opening it he turned his head slightly and whispered "Night Lily."

Lily waited until his door had shut before removing the charm. Had he known she was there? That wasn't possible! She hadn't moved an inch and there was no way he could have seen her. Another thought struck her. Did he do that every night? Wish her good night knowing she wouldn't be able to hear him? It certainly didn't fit the boisterous, egotistical prankster she loathed.

Lily flopped into her own bed to try to catch the few hours of sleep available.

...

The next day Lily found that she was watching Potter more and more. She told herself that she was making sure he wasn't doing anything else dangerous or stupid but deep down she knew that she was starting to worry about him.

"Lils? Lils!"

"Hmm? What?" Lily's arm was shaken by Alice, one of her oldest friends.

"You ok Lils? You look lost in a daydream."

Lily shook her head. "I'm fine. Where were we?"

"Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration." Alice replied. "You sure you're alright Lils?" She followed Lily's gaze and her jaw dropped. "James Potter? Lily you're not serious!"

"Ssshhh Ally! It's not like that!" Lily said but as she did so she found herself thinking again. _What is it like then? _Lily furiously started writing notes on why food could not be created out of thin air, trying to put Potter and his night time excursions out of her head.

She found to her annoyance that she was not completely successful.

...

That night Lily only grunted when Potter said it was time for him to go out again. She waited after he had left. Tonight she wouldn't be doing her patrol. Lily hated the thought of not performing the duties entrusted to her but she had decided that she wanted to know exactly what Potter and his friends were doing.

After approximately fifteen minutes Lily left the dormitory. Potter, of course, was nowhere in sight. Lily reasoned however that wherever he was going he would be with Black, Pettigrew and Lupin. And that meant his first visit would be to Gryffindor tower.

Lily took a deep breath and, as quietly as she could, made her way to her old house. She briefly remembered that her wand was still lying on the table where she had put it down to do her studies.

_I shouldn't need it._ She thought to herself. _After all, what could possibly happen?_

_

* * *

_**A/N Well, as promised, here is my next story. I've chosen to go with James/Lily this time (obviously) and I'm picking up on the event mentioned in chapter 20 of Harry Potter and the Undiscovered Country. This one isn't going to be as long as I'm only looking at one event in their lives.**

**Oh yes and I now have a twitter account - cardinal001. Don't know how often I'll be updating it but I'll certainly try to keep it posted with news of fics and things.**

**Next Chapter - Tailing the Marauders  
**


	2. Tailing the Marauders

**Chapter 2 – Tailing the Marauders**

It was an odd feeling for Lily as she crept as silently as possible through the corridors. Normally she would have walked down them as bold as she pleased and she would be the one on the lookout for students out of bed. Now she was the one who was doing what she shouldn't. She couldn't even cast a Disillusionment Charm as she didn't have her wand with her.

The school was quite creepy at night, she decided. During the the day the corridors were bustling with students and there was always a constant background chatter from the portraits hanging on the walls. Now however there was only silence, broken by soft snoring from the sleeping pictures. The only real light came from the moon outside and it glinted on the suits of armour. Lily found it quite beautiful and it gave her some measure of comfort as she made her way to the Fat Lady's portrait.

She hid in an alcove just out of sight of the Fat Lady and kept a steady watch. The thought occurred to her that maybe she was wrong and Potter hadn't come this way, in which case she was wasting her time. She decided that the best thing to do would be to wait for a while. If nothing happened then she would go back to her room. She settled in to wait.

...

Lily didn't have to wait very long. Barely fifteen minutes after she arrived at Gryffindor the portrait swung open. Lily kept very close to the wall as first Potter, then Black, Lupin and Pettigrew emerged from the portrait hole. Lily suppressed a gasp. She always thought that Lupin looked quite sick – his skin was always pale and his eyes seemed to sink into his head – but she had never seen him like this before. He was sweating, his face was white as a sheet, so white she almost thought he looked like one of the school's ghosts. She saw that he was being supported by Black and Pettigrew and looked like that he could collapse at any moment. They were whispering to each other and Lily strained to hear what they were saying.

"Have you got him?"

"Yes he's fine. Hopefully Pete won't drop his side again like last night."

"That wasn't my fault Sirius! I tripped on a flagstone."

"We were lucky no one came to look! Is the coast clear James?"

"It's like I told you everyone's in bed by now. Same as last night and the night before."

"We should check the map, just in case."

"No time! Look at him. It's worse tonight than before! I'm telling you it's fine!"

"Ready Remus?" Lily saw Lupin nod slightly.

The three of them helped their friend down the corridor, almost carrying him as he looked in no fit state to walk. The Fat Lady swung shut behind them. Lily heard her whisper after them "Good luck!"

Lily's mind was full of questions. Where could they possibly be taking him? To Madame Pomfrey? He certainly looked most unwell, but then again if so why were they sneaking around? And why now? No there had to be more to it than that.

Lily let them get about twenty paces down the corridor before she started to follow them. She had to take extra care not to make any noise which would alert them to the fact that they weren't as alone as they thought. Her task was made more difficult by the fact that the four people in front of her seemed to be making random turns left and right, along corridors she herself rarely travelled down even in daylight, never mind on her nightly patrols.

Even though she knew she was breaking any number of school rules Lily couldn't help but feel a flicker of excitement. She had never done anything like this before in her life! She had always been the perfect student, never putting a foot wrong, never going anywhere or doing anything she wasn't supposed to do. The four people in front of her, Potter and his friends or the Marauders as they called themselves – Lily snorted to herself. The Marauders! Who's idea was that? Probably Black's – he always loved the dramatic. Whatever, the four of them had a reputation for toeing the line. Whenever something happened they were always at the centre of it. Lily was starting to wonder if there was something she'd missed out on in her life, which she was only now discovering.

Lily snapped out of her reverie and noticed that Potter and his friends had stopped in front of a featureless section of the wall. She backed up against a wall and heard them whispering again.

"I still don't see why we can't go through the One-Eyed Witch passage. That's much easier." Pettigrew was saying.

"Use your head Peter! I keep telling you we can't risk suddenly appearing in Hogsmeade. Anyone could be about! That man who smells of goats for example!" Black lightly cuffed Pettigrew's head.

"Owwww Sirius!" Pettigrew rubbed the back of his head.

"Shut it you two!" Potter snapped as he felt around the wall. Grunting in satisfaction he stood back and the wall slid aside. Behind it was a passage leading into darkness. Potter lit up his wand and led the way, the others following him. Lily managed to dash inside before the wall shut again. She froze for a moment, making sure they hadn't heard her before slowly making her way down the passage.

If she thought sneaking through the dark school corridors was creepy then this was downright scary. Lily forced herself to move slowly, more so she could keep her footing than stealth. Not for the first time that night she wished she had gone back for her wand. She couldn't see five feet in front of her. All she had to go by was the faint light ahead of her from Potter's wand, accompanied by very faint whispers.

...

After what seemed like forever she finally emerged onto the side of a hill. Breathing the fresh air in deep she tried to get her bearings. Obviously they were outside the school, which in itself was an automatic two-month detention, weekends included, even for the Head Boy and Girl. Looking up she saw that the moon was obscured by a cloud and so was not giving much light. Peering into the darkness she saw Potter's light moving down the hill and so she carefully made her own way down, making sure that every step was onto solid ground. She didn't want to have to explain exactly why her leg had been broken when she was supposed to be in bed. Why had she thought this was a good idea? It would have been easier just to turn the lot of them in to Dumbledore. She had come this far though so she decided to see it through.

The four of them had stopped a short way from a tree which Lily knew very well. The Whomping Willow had been planted shortly after she had started Hogwarts. They had all been told that it was an endangered species and it would be useful for the school to have the tree available for study and research. No one went near it though as its flailing branches had caused many broken bones for the curious and foolhardy.

Lily hid behind a nearby rock and watched them.

Black was talking quietly to Potter. "How long do you think?"

Potter looked at the sky, then at Lupin. "Not long at all. We need to hurry."

Lily looked at Lupin. He seemed to be worse than ever. He was breathing deeply and his eyes were shut tight. He looked like he was grimacing, as if he was trying to hold something in. Lily had never seen this before and wondered what exactly was happening.

The tree shifted its branches menacingly. Potter flicked his wand and what looked like a small twig flew up and struck the tree in a certain place. The branches became still. Potter helped Black and Pettigrew guide Lupin into an opening in the roots of the tree. They looked like they were hurrying, but for what reason Lily had no idea.

Once they had disappeared Lily approached the Whomping Willow gingerly but it still looked like it wasn't going to move anytime soon. She crept to the opening in the roots and let herself down. She landed with a loud thud and froze as some dust and soil trickled down. She heard voices up ahead.

"What was that?"

"Don't worry it's probably the tree waking up again. Come on, we're nearly there."

Lily made her way forward. If anything this tunnel was more treacherous than the passageway leading out of the school. Here there were roots sticking out of the ground and in the ceiling, which was quite low. Her hair was caught a couple of times and she twisted herself free, biting back the pain as a few strands ripped from her head. She tried not to think about what she might be walking in as she felt her feet squish down into the ground. She hoped it was only mud.

This tunnel was even longer than the passageway and at some points became quite low, forcing her to stoop down to get through. Eventually though the tunnel started to go uphill. There was no sign of Potter or the others. Lily found that she was becoming afraid of what she might find at the end. She tried to tell herself that there was nothing to be scared of and she was only observing what the Marauders were up to but all the dark places and sneaking around had awoken some sort of primal fear in her.

The tunnel finally ended at the last thing Lily had expected – a trapdoor in the roof. The wooden planks formed a sharp contrast to the earthen walls and roots around her. Abandoning all attempts at silence and stealth she opened the trapdoor and quickly clambered up into a tall room with wooden walls. By now Lily was feeling quite terrified. No longer caring if she was caught she whispered "Potter? James? Are you there? Sirius? Anyone?"

There was no answer.

A door led to a rickety looking staircase which led up and up, with other doors leading from it. All the walls looked like they were made of the same sort of rotting wood and Lily could distinctly feel the whole structure gently swaying, as if buffeted by wind. Plucking up what was left of her courage Lily crept up the staircase, wincing at each creak as she put her feet down. She tried the first room. It was empty. The next one was empty as well and fairly soon she had looked into every room. There was no one there. One room had a couple of chairs and another had a bed so it looked like someone could live there.

"Maybe Potter and his friends come to visit whoever lives here." Lily said quietly to herself, speaking out loud so that she didn't feel quite so lonely. The sound of her voice still came as a shock to her in the eerie silence.

The building seemed familiar to her, even though she had never actually been there before. It was nagging at her mind, something she was missing. She made her way back down the creaking stairs. At the bottom was a door which looked like it led outside. It was slightly ajar, as if whoever had gone through it hadn't closed it properly. Lily opened the door and looked outside. The house was standing in the middle of a field on top of a hill. In the distance she could make out the shapes of houses and realised that it must be Hogsmeade she could see. How different it looked in the dark! The clouds had gone now and the sky was clear – she could see stars and automatically began naming the various constellations, more as a way of holding off her fear than anything else. The ground around the house looked quite bright. _The moon must be out_ she thought. At least she wouldn't have to find her way back in total darkness.

She stepped outside and turned to look up at the house. She instantly knew what it was, having seen it from a distance on her visits to Hogsmeade – The Shrieking Shack. She had heard the stories of how people had heard moaning and screaming and everybody said it was haunted. _Well now it seems to be empty _she thought to herself.

Lily tried again to call as quietly as she could. "James? Are you there? It isn't funny anymore James!" Still no answer and she could see no sign of them. Where were they? It was as if they had completely disappeared off the face of the earth! Lily decided to walk around the house, keeping close to the walls. Maybe they were on the other side of the hill?

Lily moved as slowly as she could. Even though she seemed to be all alone there was no telling what could be out here, especially at this time of night. She knew about some of the creatures who made their homes in the forest near Hagrid's hut and she wouldn't have been surprised to see similar beasts up here, especially given this building's reputation.

Lily turned a corner and saw the moon, out in full and shining at its brightest. And silhouetted against it she saw a shape. It was roughly man-sized and had two arms, two legs and a head so Lily decided that it must be one of the Marauders. Possibly Sirius. It would be just like him to want to make such a spectacle of himself. Lily walked towards it.

She got about halfway when she heard something that made her blood run cold. The shape tipped back its head, which Lily now noticed seemed to be rather elongated, and howled. The sound awakened a new terror in her as she now recognised what the figure was, having studied them in her third year.

A werewolf.

Lily couldn't believe it. Sure she knew that such things existed but here? Where had it come from? The village? And was this what Potter and his friends were up to? Were they trying to get rid of it? All these questions took second place to the first thought that was dominating her mind – escape.

Lily backed up, making her way towards the house, when she stepped on a twig. The snap sounded loud in the stillness of the night and Lily knew that it would not have gone unnoticed by the beast up ahead.

Sure enough the wolf-like creature slowly lowered its head and turned to face her. Even from this distance Lily could see the hunger in its eyes. It opened its mouth and growled at her loudly.

That did it. Lily turned and ran for the house. She hadn't gone ten steps when she tripped over a small clump of grass and landed heavily on the ground. Winded, Lily tried to get up but her foot had become caught. She struggled to free herself but her foot would not budge.

Lily looked up. The werewolf was bounding towards her, its claws out and its teeth bared, the saliva dripping from its mouth. It closed to the last few metres and then leapt.

Lily screamed.

* * *

**A/N Dun dun duuuuuun. Of course we know (or at least I hope we know) what's going on here but I tried to make it as realistic as possible from Lily's point of view. **

**Someone asked why Lily would never have noticed over the seven years of school but as far as I can see she wouldn't have bothered about what the gang were up to, even disappearing every few weeks. She would probably have just put it down to one of their many pranks. Well now she's learning the reality is a bit different.**

**Next Chapter - Fight and Flight**


	3. Fight and Flight

**Chapter 3 – Fight and Flight**

The werewolf landed just in front of Lily, still breathing heavily, still with its mouth wide open. _Was it laughing?_ Lily thought to herself. The creature inched forward slowly. Lily tried to back up. She knew exactly what would happen if she was bitten. First blinding pain, like fire, then the transformation. She had seen images in her textbooks, moving images of people changing into another form. It looked excruciatingly painful, even more so than the _Cruciatus_ curse. Lily closed her eyes, not wanting to see the wolf bite her, expecting to feel the beast's teeth sink into her flesh at any moment.

Then there was another sound. A cry from a different animal, full of rage and urgency. Lily opened her eyes to see a large dark shape leap over her. It was a stag! Dark brown fur and great majestic antlers, there was nothing else it could be. It slammed straight into the werewolf and knocked it back. The stag stood between Lily and the werewolf. It seemed to Lily that it was defending her. But why? What was a stag doing here at all? Too many questions and no answers.

There was another sound, this time loud barking and growling. At first Lily thought the werewolf was making another attack but then she saw a large black dog with... was that a rat?... clinging to its back. The dog bounded up and to Lily's astonishment the rat leapt from its back and landed on top of the werewolf, immediately biting and scratching at its fur. The wolf struggled and flailed its arms trying to shake the rat off but instead the black dog started biting at it. The stag remained immobile, as if daring the werewolf to approach the terrified girl it was protecting.

It was all too much for Lily. The shock finally caught up with her and she fainted.

...

"Lily?"

Darkness. Lily could feel herself coming round. She could hear a voice, very faint, calling her name. She clung to it and used it to pull herself back.

"Lily please be all right."

The voice was louder now. Lily slowly opened her eyes. Her surroundings were blurred but she could make out a face above her. The voice was becoming familiar too.

"Lily! Oh thank Merlin!"

"J... James?" she whispered.

"Shhh it's okay. I'm here." The face resolved itself into the features of James Potter. His brow was contorted with worry.

"James... what's happening? There was a... a werewolf and a stag and..."

"It's okay Lily. You're safe now."

James helped her sit up. Lily saw that she was back inside the Shrieking Shack, lying on the floor in one of the rooms on the ground floor. Turning her head slightly she could see the trapdoor which had brought her here. Looking back at James – she could now no longer think of him as just 'Potter' – she saw that he had new scratches down his face and a large purple bruise on his right cheekbone, just below his eye.

"Are you all right?" James asked her. Lily nodded then suddenly realised.

"James, that was a werewolf. Did it bite you?" She was surprised to hear the concern in her voice. James shook his head.

"No, no I'm okay. Really. It's not as bad as it looks."

"But what's going on?" Lily asked. "Is that what you've been coming out here for? To watch those animals fight each other? James you know that's dangerous!"

"Lily, I'll explain everything later but for now we've got to get out of here. Sirius and Peter are holding him off but they can't do it forever."

"Sirius? Peter?" Lily was confused. "Are they trying to fight that thing? On their own? And where's Lupin? Is he okay?"

James put a finger on her lips. "I told you I'll explain everything later. You've just got to trust me for now. Can you stand?"

Lily nodded and, with James helping, managed to stand up.

And immediately crashed back down to the floor.

Her ankle had suddenly sent a huge jolt of pain through her. It was almost overpowering. She tried to move it but it only brought fresh waves of agony.

"My ankle..." She managed to whisper. James carefully felt around it.

"Nothing seems to be broken down there, it must be badly twisted." He sighed and looked at the trapdoor. "Come on, I'll help you."

With a large struggle and a great amount of pain, Lily was eventually sitting on the edge of the opened trapdoor with James at the bottom in the tunnel. He held out his arms and Lily pushed off. James caught her as best he could but she still managed to land on her bad foot. Lily bit back a yelp of pain, realising that silence was the best course of action right now and, with James supporting her weight, they set off as quickly as they could manage down the tunnel, Lily moving through sheer willpower.

The distance went by agonisingly slowly and every so often James would look back the way they had come. Lily didn't need to be told what he was looking for. They both knew that at any moment the werewolf could come thundering down the tunnel and overtake them. There was nothing they could do however but move forward step by excruciating step.

...

Lily estimated that they must have made it about a third of the way through the tunnel when she heard a sound that chilled her blood.

A howl. And it sounded rather close.

"He must have given Sirius the slip! He's in the house." James hissed. They tried to pick up the pace but Lily just couldn't manage it. After another few steps James stopped and turned to her.

"Lily, do you trust me?"

"What?" Lily wondered what could possibly have caused James to stop with a bloodthirsty werewolf on their tail. There was another howl, a bit closer than before.

"There's no time! Any minute he'll get through the trapdoor. Do you trust me?" James hissed.

Lily nodded, unsure as to what was going on. To her surprise James crouched down and put his hands on the ground in front of him. "Get on my back." he told her.

"What?"

"Just do it!"

Wondering if James had gone crazy and mindful of the creature fast approaching them, Lily did as she was told and managed to clamber onto his back, ignoring the pain in her ankle. Once she was firmly on she leaned down to whisper to James.

"Okay I'm on. What are you..." She broke off. Beneath her she could feel something happening to James's body. It bucked and swelled beneath her. Lily managed to keep her grip as James's clothes turned to what seemed like fur. His arms and legs grew longer and thinner and his head...

Lily could only look on in astonishment as James's neck lengthened and two antlers sprouted from the top of his head, which now looked exactly like a stag's head.

The same stag as before. The one that had protected her from the werewolf.

It had been James all along.

Her mind started to whirl again. James had mentioned Sirius and Peter. Did that mean that they were the dog and rat? And what about Remus? She was interrupted in her thoughts as James began to move. He started at a canter, which soon became a brisk trot, and then he broke out in a full gallop. All Lily could do was to hold on tight and shut her eyes. The tunnel wasn't really large enough to accommodate the stag, let alone with a passenger, and James's antlers occasionally scraped against the roof and tore through low hanging roots.

Then Lily heard movement behind them and realised they weren't alone in the tunnel. The werewolf was there as well.

James picked up the pace as the growling grew louder and louder. The end of the tunnel was a point of light which seemed to be miles away. Lily just held on and prayed to whatever power or fate might be listening that they would get out in time. She risked a quick glance behind her. Sure enough there was a dark grey shape pounding after them.

"Come on James." she whispered.

...

James finally reached the end of the tunnel and broke out onto the hillside, dragging some stray roots after him. Lily started to breathe a sigh of relief but then had to duck quickly as the Whomping Willow swung one of its larger branches round and only just missed knocking her off the stag's back. James galloped clear of the tree and gently reared up. Lily took that as an indication that she should get off and, as carefully as she could, lowered herself to the ground.

Lily watched, again with a measure of astonishment, as the stag contorted and changed back into James Potter. It did look quite painful to her. She started to ask what they were going to do next but James waved her into silence. He ran to what looked like an ordinary bush and started to root around inside it.

A howl rang out and Lily turned to see that the werewolf had reached the entrance of the tunnel. It was in difficulties as the Willow was pummelling it with some of its branches. The werewolf was howling in pain and trying to fight back.

"Where is it? Where is it?" James was murmuring to himself as he moved to another bush, then under a rock. Whatever it was he was looking for Lily hoped he found it soon as the werewolf looked to be winning his fight with the tree.

The creature finally managed to break free and faced Lily. Lily tried to move but her foot would not allow her. Instead she screamed.

"JAMES!"

James stood up, clutching what appeared to be a glass bottle full of a silvery liquid. He ran forward to the werewolf. As it lunged at him he thrust the bottle forward and managed to jam it into the beast's mouth. The werewolf looked confused for a moment then tried to crush the bottle with its jaws.

James ran back to Lily. "Are you all right?" he asked her. Lily nodded but kept her eyes on the werewolf.

After a minute the werewolf managed to bite through the bottle. Shards of glass mixed with the silver potion cascaded down around its mouth and it turned to face them with an expression like a huge toothy grin. It took one step towards them, then another, then it pitched over and collapsed. It landed heavily on the ground with its eyes closed.

James approached it gingerly and crouched down in front of it.

"Is it... dead?" Lily asked.

James shook his head. "No he's fine. He's just sleeping." He saw Lily's questioning look. "Wolfsbane potion. Strong one. Very rare and very difficult to make. Professor Slughorn only had enough for one bottle. We've kept it hidden here for a long time in case we needed it." James looked back down at the sleeping monster. "He's not going to forgive himself for this. Poor fellow."

"Who is it?" Lily asked.

James sighed. "It's Remus."

Remus? As in Remus Lupin? Suddenly Lupin's constant ghastly pallor made sense to Lily. The signs had been there, she just hadn't bothered to look for them. "James, I'm so sorry." she said.

James just shook his head. "Not your fault." He stood up. "I'd better get you back up to the school. But first." He pulled out his wand and whispered "_Expecto Patronum_." A silvery jet of mist flew out of the end and formed into a brightly glowing stag. James whispered to it and it flew off down the tunnel.

"What was that?" Lily asked.

"Just letting Sirius and Peter know. They'll take care of him. Come on."

...

James helped Lily back up to the school through the same passageway they had used before. Lily noticed that James was consulting a map as he guided her back to the dormitory they shared. Once they reached it he helped her to her room and she flopped down on to her bed. James made to leave but she quickly reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

"Don't go." she whispered.

James nodded and sat down on her bed. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Night Lily."

Tiredness from the night's adventures finally overtook her and she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**A/N I believe that is what is known as a BDH moment for James. That stands for Big Darn Heroes.**

**When I finished this one I felt like I'd been in the chase myself!  
**

**Next Chapter: The Morning After  
**


	4. The Morning After

**Chapter 4 – The Morning After**

Lily woke next morning with stiff limbs and a pounding headache. This was hardly surprising given the events of the previous night. When her eyes finally focused the first thing she saw was James, sitting in a chair next to her bed, with a look of worry on his face. He brightened when she opened her eyes.

"Morning Lily. How are you feeling?"

"Like there's a troll tap dancing competition going on in my head." Lily put her hand to her forehead. "What time is it?"

"Half past nine." James replied. Lily sat up. And immediately regretted it.

"What? Why didn't you wake me? I've missed breakfast and most of Charms! I..."

James put a hand to her shoulder and gently eased her back down. "It's okay Lily. I've told Professor Flitwick you were feeling sick. He's agreed to let you catch up tomorrow. Professor Slughorn said the same. Old Sluggy said you needed a break anyway."

Lily laid her head back down on her pillow. "Thanks James."

"Oh yes and Madame Pomfrey sent you this. She says to take one every half hour. Starting now." James handed her a small bottle. Lily opened it and drew out a bright blue tablet. She swallowed it and grimaced.

"You'd think by now they would have figured out how to make these taste nice. Pumpkin juice flavour for instance."

James laughed. "Come on Lils! If it tastes horrible that's how you know it's doing you good." Lily spotted the use of her nickname but didn't say anything. In fact she found she quite liked the sound of it coming from his mouth. Maybe she had hit her head harder than she thought.

A thought struck her. She propped herself up on her elbows. "James, you said last night you'd explain what was going on. Well I think I've got time now."

James sat back in his chair. "Not all that much to explain really. Remus is a werewolf. Dumbledore knew when Remus started in his first year. He had the Shrieking Shack built and the Whomping Willow planted before the year began." James leaned his head back and closed his eyes before continuing. "We, that is Sirius and me, we could see something was wrong with him. He was always the boy sat on his own in the corner, never talking to anyone. He always looked so ill. Well we started talking to him. I think he'd never really spoken to anyone before."

Lily could see the long forgotten emotions passing over James's face. It was funny. She had always remembered James in his first year as a selfish brat, more concerned with his own ego than anyone else's feelings. This was new to her. James hadn't finished though.

"We had fun together, getting into all sorts of trouble. I can remember when we found our first secret passage and ran outside in the dark. Merlin! Did we ever get detention for that one! Later on Peter joined us and of course we pulled off more pranks but there was always the odd period where Remus would disappear for a few days at a time. Oh he would still be around in class, but in the evenings he would be gone. And in the mornings he always looked a lot worse, like he'd been really sick in the night.

"Well, of course, me and Sirius asked him what was going on. Remus avoided the question at first but then when we told him we were his friends and we wanted to help him he finally told us. I'll never forget the look on his face." Lily found herself leaning forward as she listened to James. "It was as if he was scared of telling us. He was scared of how we might react. Would we abandon him? Would we stop being his friends? When I said that it didn't make any difference, well, he told me afterwards that was the happiest he's ever been. In fact that's the memory he uses for his Patronus charm. We decided then and there that if there was any way for us to help Remus we would."

Lily was entranced. She hadn't taken her eyes off James the whole time. "So then what happened?" she asked. James smiled.

"Obviously we couldn't help him as we were – he would have attacked us no matter how much he didn't want to. We tried though, we did little things. Helped him through the passages, kept a look out, that sort of thing."

"But you said Dumbledore already knew about Remus."

"He did and so did some of the other teachers, but a lot of people didn't. You didn't for one. Anyway eventually we found a way. It took us until our fifth year but we managed it."

Something clicked in Lily's mind. The stag, the dog and the rat. "You became an animagus. All three of you became animagi."

James nodded. "Yep. It was hard and it was dangerous but it was worth it to help Remus."

"Don't animagi have to register?" Lily asked.

James laughed. "Come on Lily you should know me by now. Rules and stuff – who cares?"

"But you were breaking the law! You could be caught!"

James shook his head. "We don't care. Remus is our friend. Anything is worth it to help him. We won't ever abandon him."

"But then what about last night? You brought me back here and left the others to take care of Remus. Why, if he's so important to you?" Lily didn't expect James's answer.

"Because you're my friend too Lily. I'd never leave you."

Before Lily could even think about stopping herself she had leapt up and wrapped her arms around James, burying her face deep into his chest. She could feel his own strong arms around her and knew that he was telling the truth. Gone forever was James the egotistical, selfish, belligerent prat and in its place was James the loyal, caring, generous friend. Lily was surprised to find that she was crying. She felt James lean down and whisper in her ear.

"You're welcome."

Lily pulled back and looked him in the face. She smiled through her tears. James reached up and wiped a couple away with his thumb. "What are these for?"

Lily shook her head. "I'm sorry. All these years I had this idea that you were the most selfish and arrogant person in the school and now..."

James put his finger on her mouth. "It's all right Lily." He held her close again.

After a few minutes he let go. Lily protested but James stood up. "I have a class now. I'll see you later." With that, and giving her a final look over his shoulder, he left the room.

...

At midday, Lily felt rested enough to go down to the Great Hall for lunch. There weren't that many students there, as lessons tended to be staggered at noon. As a result she didn't see her friend Alice in the hall or James for that matter. At the end of the Gryffindor table she saw Sirius and Remus eating in silence. Remus's head was bowed and he looked thoroughly miserable. Lily went over and sat down next to him.

Remus turned his head slowly towards her. "Li... Lily?" he said quietly.

Lily put her arm around his shoulder. "It's okay Remus. It wasn't your fault. James told me."

Sirius put his sandwich down. "See Moony? I told you she'd be all right!"

Lily smiled. "Moony?"

Remus nodded, but he still looked unhappy. "It's James's nickname for me. Sirius is Padfoot, Peter's Wormtail and James is Prongs. I suppose you can guess why. Look Lily I..."

Lily cut him off. "Shhh. I told you it's okay. You didn't know what you were doing. It's all right Remus. I forgive you."

That seemed to be what Remus wanted to hear as he started to sob quietly. Lily held him close until he had finished. The three of them then finished their lunch chatting amiably about their studies.

...

After lunch Lily went to Muggle Studies. She met up with Alice, who immediately pounced.

"Well someone looks happy today! Especially after skiving off all morning!"

Lily just smiled but didn't say anything. Her eye had been drawn to the front of the class where James was sitting. He looked over at her and grinned. Lily's smile grew even wider. Alice, of course, spotted this straight away.

"Ha! I knew it! James Potter, of all people!"

"Oh be quiet Alice." Lily was still smiling as she said this. Alice just chuckled and got on with the lesson.

...

That evening Lily was getting ready for her Head Girl patrol and James was getting ready for another night at the shack. Unlike previous occasions however they were being friendly with each other.

"Remus said you saw him and Sirius at lunch today." James said as he pulled on his cloak.

"That's right, I did. He told me about your nicknames." Lily laughed. "Prongs! Who came up with that?"

"Sirius would you believe?" James laughed too. "He also suggested we call ourselves the Marauders. Silly name really. Too pretentious."

"Pretentious? The great James Potter saying something is too pretentious?" Lily was enjoying herself. If she'd have known this was what James was really like she would have been friends with him a long time ago.

James grew serious. "You won't tell anyone will you? I mean I know you won't but..."

Lily cut him off. "Don't worry I won't breathe a word. Of course you'll have to do something for me in return."

"What's that?"

Lily smiled at him. "Teach me to be an animagus?"

James smiled too. "I'll try. Make take a few years though." He got up. "Don't wait up."

"James, wait." Lily stood up and walked towards him. Her voice grew soft. "Ask me again."

"What?"

Lily kept on coming. "Ask me that question you always ask me and I always say no."

James took a breath. "Lily, will you... will you go out with me?"

Lily reached him and put her hand on his cheek, putting her face close to his. "James, I'd love to." She closed the distance between t hem and kissed him softly on the lips. She closed her eyes and sighed into the kiss.

Now she was happy.

After a minute or so she pulled back. James looked like he had frozen with shock. She tapped him on the cheek. "Go on. Your friends are waiting for you."

"Right er... okay." James stammered. He swallowed and walked to the door. He looked back at Lily and she blew him a kiss. He grinned widely and left.

...

Patrol that night passed quickly for Lily. The moment she returned to her room she pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. There was no reason why she should write to her sister or why her sister should reply. But she wanted to tell someone!

Lily sat down at the table, dipped the quill in ink and began to write.

_Dear Tuney..._

**THE END**

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**A/N I did say this would be a short one. Oh and by the way the letter Lily is writing is the one that Harry gets given in chapter 20 of Harry Potter and the Undiscovered Country.**

**It's hard writing or even reading a James/Lily fic because we know that they'll never get a happy ever after unlike other characters. There's an inherent tragedy already built in. Oh and by the way according to Harry Potter Wikia James and Lily were both born in 1960, which makes them 21 when Voldemort comes knocking. Tragedy see?**

**Anyway my next story is going to be Neville/Luna I think, but I don't know when I'll be able to make a start on it so keep a look out and sign up to follow me on twitter - cardinal001 - for story news and updates.**

**Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!  
**


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